Penn physicists share Breakthrough Prize with international team of researchers
Penn physicists were among more than 13,000 researchers from 70 countries who shared the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.
Penn physicists involved in one of the largest international particle physics experiments have received the prestigious Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for their research of an elusive particle that plays a key role in modern physics theories.
The award was shared by some 13,000 researchers in 70 countries who collaborated on particle physics experiments at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, called CERN, in Switzerland. The $3 million prize will be reinvested into CERN research.
Four research groups conduct experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, a massive, 17-mile-long particle accelerator. This is where the Higgs Boson, a critical particle in modern particle physics theory, was discovered in 2012.
Penn is part of what is called the ATLAS Experiment, which played a critical role in the Higgs discovery. Penn’s ATLAS team has more than two dozen members, including physics and astronomy professors who have been involved with the project for decades.
» READ MORE: Penn helps find hints of elusive Higgs particle
The Higgs discovery confirmed decades of research and theories about how particles acquire mass, critical understanding to explain how the universe was created.
The Breakthrough Prize recognizes the work researchers have done since then, further studying how the Higgs Boson behaves and exploring other phenomena.
The Penn team, for instance, has been involved in studying “supersymmetry” to help understand holes in the Standard Model, which is the physics theory that explains how matter interacts.
“Supersymmetry could offer explanations for the nature of dark matter, why the Higgs boson has the mass it does, even whether we’re in a stable or unstable universe,” Joseph Kroll, a professor of physics and astronomy at Penn, said in a statement.
Other leaders on Penn’s ATLAS team include professors Evelyn Thomson and Elliot Lipeles, assistant professor Dylan Rankin, and emeritus professor Brig Williams.
The international Breakthrough Prize, awarded annually, recognizes achievements in fundamental physics, mathematics, and life sciences.
Penn’s Carl June was a 2024 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences recipient for his work on CAR-T cancer treatment, a form of immunotherapy that is considered a cure for some forms of blood cancer.
In 2022, Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman received the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for their mRNA research at Penn that was used to develop the COVID-19 vaccines.